Former President Donald Trump is calling on the Alabama Legislature to preserve access to in vitro fertilization after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people, prompting a pause in many of the fertility treatments.
“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” he said.
The former president called on the Legislature to quickly “find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama.”
The court ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children, paving the way for wrongful death lawsuits. Democrats including President Biden are blaming Mr. Trump for the ruling, saying his Supreme Court nominees made it possible when they overturned the right to abortion in 2022.
Mr. Trump has stayed quietly in the middle when it comes to reproduction conversations, but he has bragged that he is the reason Roe v. Wade was reversed.
His comments come as the National Republican Senatorial Committee has called on its candidates to show their support for IVF and publicly condemn the court’s ruling. A letter sent to candidates warned them that the ruling could act as “fodder for Democrats hoping to manipulate the abortion issue for electoral gain.”
“When responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, it is imperative that our candidates align with the public’s overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments,” the letter said. “By advocating for increased access to these services, opposing restrictions, and emphasizing the importance of supporting families in their journey to conceive, our candidates can demonstrate compassion, respect for family values, and a commitment to individual freedom.”
The court’s decision has angered Democrats and advocates of abortion access. It caused the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system to pause in-vitro treatments because the school worries they could be prosecuted under the state Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Today, in 2024 in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, while doctors fear prosecution for providing an abortion,” Mr. Biden said. “And now, a court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant. The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said, “American women couldn’t care less what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social, they care that they can’t access fertility treatment because of him.”
She said the Alabama ruling was a “direct result of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturning Roe v. Wade.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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